Finding Who We Were
by SunaT.U
Summary: In a difficult battle Ichigo and Rukia both die protecting Karakura Town. Ichigo appears in the Rukongai without any memories. Rukia's soul is recycled and is born again in the world of the living. In finding each other, will they be able to find what each of them is missing? IchiRuki
1. The Forgotten

A/N: Hey guys! This is my first IchiRuki story ever and I'm really excited to share my ideas with all of you! If you've read the summary, I bet no one's ever written something like this (I think). Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Finding Who We Were**

**Chapter 1: The Forgotten**

The Soul Society's air was cool and light. Clouds were scattered across the starry sky and everything seemed to be fast asleep with the exception of the chirping crickets.

The crickets' melody was soon interrupted by the sound of tacking shoes against the porcelain grounds that lined and weaved around the buildings in the Seireitei. Nanao Ise ran through the streets bound for the 1st Division barracks with a small stack of papers clutched under her arm.

She knew that reporting to her captain took priority over alerting Captain Kuchiki, but something in her heart told her otherwise. Still, Byakuya would soon find out regardless of what she did. She only hoped that he could be at peace with it, knowing that no one gave up. How anyone was going to break the news to Kuchiki's lieutenant, Renji Abarai was beyond what she could imagine.

Although these recent events didn't effect her emotionally as much as it was bound to effect others', it still pained her to know that something like this could happen. And all in one night.

Nanao made her way towards her captain's chambers only to find him sitting outside on the wooden porch, sipping sake and gazing at the star filled sky. The female shinigami panted lightly as she caught her breath.

"Nanao, what's gotten you so worked up over? You've got such a dreadful look on your face. It's unbecoming of a beautiful, young woman such as yourself to wear a dire frown," Captain Shunsui Kyoraku said slowly without even looking at her.

Nanao straightened herself and grasped the papers in one hand as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose with the other. Ignoring Shunsui's remark, she went straight to business. "Captain Kyoraku, I have the report for you from the battle in Karakura Town."

"Alright," he reached out to receive the report papers from her.

"Shunsui!" Jushiro Ukitake called out as he touched down at Shunsui's side.

"What is it Jushiro? You seem pretty worked up yourself." Shunsui took a pause and changed his expression to a more serious one. "Did you go yourself?" he asked.

Jushiro stood all the way up before replying while looking downcast. "Yes," was all he said.

"Worried about your lieutenant?" Shunsui asked further.

"I wasn't, until I got there."

"Hmm, I see." Shunsui looked back over at Nanao, "I'm not much of a report-on-paper type of person. Mind just telling me what happened instead?"

"Very well then, I've already looked over the papers myself," Nanao began.

"Good, glad I can always count on you, Nanao."

Nanao again ignored his remark and continued. "The attack was mounted by a former shinigami who went missing in action many years ago. His purpose is still unknown, but it appears that he had been planning his attack for several centuries. He attacked solo and unexpectedly. We can't find any evidence hinting to his plans before he actually carried them out. He covered his tracks perfectly."

Shunsui looked back down at his sake, "Did we win?"

"Yes... however," Nanao stopped herself there.

"Any casualties?" he asked, knowing what the look on both of their faces meant.

Nanao opened her mouth to speak but then clamped it shut and looked over at Jushiro. Jushiro gave her a nod, letting her know that he would tell him.

"Yes, there were two casualties. Substitute Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki and lieutenant of the 13th Division, Rukia Kuchiki."

Shunsui tilted his straw hat so that his eyes were shaded from the moon light and let out a sigh. "The man's strength sure did prove formidable. How unfortunate."

A moment of silence fell between the three as they took time to morn the deaths of their comrade and ally. Suddenly their attention was drawn to an abrupt presence bowing on one knee respectfully in the presence of the Head Captain.

The lieutenant of Squad 6, Renji Abarai lifted his head to speak. "Head Captain Kyoraku, I apologize for interrupting. I heard about what was going on in Karakura Town. I'd like to ask permission to go there to provide backup," he stated without waver.

"Hm?" the Head Captain gave him a look. "I'm afraid you're too late for that. The threat has already been defeated."

Renji looked slightly surprised at first, but soon recovered. "That's great! I shouldn't have been so worried. Ichigo and the others always seem to handle things somehow."

"Lieutenant Abarai..." Nanao started.

"Hm? What is it?"

Watching his face turn from a smile to a frown pulled at Nanao's heart. She guessed the two captains were thinking the same thing as she was. _Why did he have to appear at such an inconvenient time?_

"Renji, why don't you stay awhile and just listen to the rest of our conversation? There isn't an easy way to explain what happened. So I suggest that all you do is listen," Shunsui told him.

Renji's worry returned. He had a million questions racing through his head and he wanted them to be answered. But he said nothing and sat down all the way onto his knees.

"Good," Shunsui remarked, noting Renji's compliance. "Now then, Jushiro, since you were there, was a konso performed on Kurosaki?"

_Ichigo...?_ Renji thought in disbelief.

"Yes, I performed it myself. When I arrived, Orihime Inoue could do nothing for him. He refused to go at first, he was too concerned over the status of my lieutenant," Jushiro held back the emotion in his voice.

Renji let out a gasp and almost stood all the way up, _Rukia?!_

Only Nanao looked over at his reaction, so he sat back down but kept his eyes wide open in shock.

"I see. Ichigo Kurosaki will have already appeared somewhere in the Rukongai. With his level of spirit energy, I'm sure he'll become a Soul Reaper sooner or later. He'll find us if we don't find him first," Shunsui told Jushiro.

Then he turned to Renji to speak to him more directly. "As for Rukia Kuchiki, her soul will be recycled and she will appear in the body of a newborn in the living world. How long that will take is anyone's guess. But she will have no memory of her past life with us and she will look different and likely act different. She will become an entirely new person. It will be nearly impossible to find her again."

Renji lowered his head and balanced himself with his hands so that he wouldn't have to look at everyone watching for his reaction. Both Ichigo and Rukia were dead. He would never see Rukia ever again. Surpassing Captain Kuchiki suddenly seemed pointless. Without Rukia, what would it matter anyway? Without Rukia, he couldn't remember why he always wanted to become stronger.

He had to keep his eyes as wide as possible to keep from crying. He stared down with his eyes glazed over at the wooden planks and scratched them a bit as he tensely balled his hands into fists.

He gritted his teeth hard and contorted his face. He couldn't speak. No words would justly express the turmoil in his heart. All purpose and understanding escaped him and he wanted to scream.

His peer and superiors watched him crumbling before them and each of their frowns only deepened. None of them could completely understand the way he was feeling at this moment. They could only watch in silence.

After another moment, Captain Kyoraku decided to speak. "There is still the matter of telling Captain Kuchiki."

"I will tell him," Captain Ukitake offered. "I am her commanding officer, therefore it is my responsibility."

"No," Renji cut in. He never lifted himself up as he spoke, "I will be the one to tell Captain Kuchiki."

"Are you sure about that Renji? You know you don't have to," Jushiro said, mostly concerned about how that would effect Renji emotionally.

"I'm sure. I want to," he stated with a concerning amount of serious determination in his voice.

"Alright Renji, you can be the one to tell Captain Kuchiki. Now that that's decided, I want everyone to go home and try to sleep. We will alert everyone of tonight's events tomorrow," Shunsui urged them.

Nanao nodded and was the first to leave. She knew it was likely that Captain Ukitake would want a private word with her own captain.

Renji finally stood up and left without uttering another word. Both captains stayed quiet until they could no long hear either lieutenant.

"Here," Shunsui handed his bottle of sake and his little cup over to Jushiro. "You probably need it more than I do."

"Thanks," Jushiro took it, but they both knew he wasn't planning on drinking any. Still, it was better if he had it than Shunsui. In fact, they were both a bit surprised Nanao hadn't tried to confiscate it from him.

When Jushiro didn't move or say anything, Shunsui decided to ask, "Did you want to talk about it?"

Jushiro was slow to respond. "No, not now. We'll talk about it later."

"Of course."

With that, Jushiro left and went back to his courters. Captain Kyoraku let out a sigh. He set the report papers at his side and leaned back on his hands. He looked back up at the moon, "This never does get easier."

* * *

Despite it being so late, Renji knew his captain would be awake and in his office on a night like this. He hadn't been the only one to hear about what was going on in Karakura Town.

He stood outside his captain's door for a while, contemplating on whether to go in and tell him now, or to wait until morning. He stared at the door trying to imagine how his captain was likely to react and if he could even take seeing his captain's reaction.

Then he heard a voice on the other side which made him jump. "Renji, don't just stand there. Enter if you've come to speak with me."

The voice was soft spoken yet commanding, just like the norm for his captain. Renji opened the door and immediately took to one knee in a bow.

Byakuya had his back facing Renji and was standing behind his desk looking out his window. "What is it Renji?" he asked when Renji said nothing.

"Captain Kuchiki, I am here to report the outcome of the battle in Karakura Town."

"Very well then, continue."

"Sir, the shinigami who had turned traitor was defended in battle. Their were two casualties on our side," he said, stopping there as he hesitated.

Byakuya waited a minute to see if Renji would finish on his own. "And the casualties were?"

Renji stayed quiet as he again hesitated, preparing himself for what came next. He took in a deep breath, "Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki."

There was another silence between them, but this time much longer. Renji looked up to see if he could tell what expression was on Byakuya's face, but he had no such luck.

Finally Byakuya said something, "Very well. You may go."

Renji nodded even though he knew Byakuya wasn't looking and stood up to leave.

"Renji..." came Byakuya's voice, stopping the lieutenant in his tracks. "Thank you for telling me."

Renji was shocked and it took him a second to say, "Sir," to affirm Byakuya's thanks as he left to let him be.

* * *

**Many Years Later**

Ichigo Kurosaki panted as he stood before Captain-Commander Kyoraku, Captain Shinji Hirako and Captain Sajin Komamura, sword in hand. He fell out of his stance and sheathed his zanpakuto.

"Very impressive Ichigo," Shunsui said under his straw hat. Ichigo turned towards the captains waiting to hear their decision.

"We'll need a moment to discuss this. You mind stepping out for a bit?" Shunsui asked him.

Ichigo shook his head and stepped out into the hallway. He slid himself down the wall so that he was sitting, expecting that this would take a while like always.

When Ichigo first appeared in the Soul Society, he was in district 67. He had no memory of his life before and he had to learn about how life worked in this world fast in order to survive.

Although all he knew to start with was his name, he picked up on all of the important things to know about this world fairly quickly. He kept to himself and people didn't bother him.

One of the first things he picked up was that only souls with high spirit energy would aged and grow hungry. The reason he found that out of all things so quickly, was that he woke up hungry.

Even though he was strongly against the idea of stealing, he knew that if he didn't, he would die and most other people wouldn't even if they went without food. He did what he had to to survive, but never anything more. He was careful never to take more than he needed and to never take from the same place twice.

For that reason, he traveled a lot. Mostly just back and forth from the districts around the 67th, but he did go all the way up to district 53 once before. It was three years before he was found by a member of the 13 Court Guard Squads.

He was asked to become a Soul Reaper. At first he didn't know how to react to the request. But he knew that if he had a way to put the power that caused him to steal to use, that would be much better than remaining where he was.

He was put into the Soul Reaper Academy and graduated six years later. He probably would have been able to graduate early if he weren't so awful at kido. During his time at the Academy, the lieutenant of Squad 6 befriended him.

Ichigo had no idea why the lieutenant would go out of his way to meet him and make friends with him. He even seemed to know more about Ichigo than Ichigo did himself. Though he wrote it off as good perceptiveness.

When he joined a squad, he chose to join Squad 13 under Captain Ukitake. He was immediately given the 4th seat position, which pleasantly surprised him.

He was actually given offers to join both Squads 6 and 11 as well. He turned down Squad 6's offer because he refused to be a subordinate to Renji Abarai. He seriously considered accepting Squad 11's offer, but then after meeting them, he declared them all lunatics for their own reasons.

It only took him a year to achieve bankai, and for that reason, he was soon promoted to the rank of lieutenant. He's held that position ever since then.

He was surprised that he was placed on Squad 8 when he was promoted instead of just taking the lieutenant's spot for Squad 13. The way he'd heard it, Captain Ukitake didn't want a new lieutenant.

In all honesty, Ichigo thought it was ridiculous not to choose a lieutenant after such a long time. He figured it would probably just be simpler to promote one of his 3rd seats to the position. He had two of them after all.

Squad 8 still doesn't have a captain, so Ichigo does the work of both a captain and a lieutenant. He still feels bad for his 3rd seat who used to do all of Ichigo's work on top of their own. It's been 14 years since his promotion to the rank of lieutenant.

If you were to add all of that up, he's lived in the Soul Society for 24 years. In all that time, he still hasn't aged all that much. He looks to be about 18 or 19 years old.

It only took a couple minutes for the door to be opened back up. Ichigo stood and Shinji let him back in. Ichigo walked back so he could sit in front of the captains.

Once Shinji was seated, the Head Captain decided to speak. "It seems we were unanimous in our decision so I'll just come right out and say it. We don't believe you're ready to be promoted to captain," Shunsui was blunt.

There was a silence and Ichigo looked shocked. "What?" he said softly. He abruptly stood up, "You've made me take the Captain Exam for the past three years! If you want me to take the exam so badly then why don't you pass me?! Heck, why do you even have me take the exam if you're just going to tell me I'm not good enough?!"

"We were hoping that you would figure out what you're missing on your own," Sajin said as he crossed his arms.

"What I'm missing?" Ichigo echoed.

"Yes, in all the time you've been a part of the 13 Court Guard Squads, I've never seen you smile once. You're always so serious Ichigo," Shinji said with a dull and bored expression.

"So? What does me not smiling have to do with anything? And isn't it necessary to be serious in battle?" Ichigo retorted.

"I didn't mean in battle, I meant all the time, everyday about everything," Shinji gave a nonchalant reply.

"Doesn't it only matter how I preform in battle? Isn't that what's important to become a captain?"

"No, that's not the only thing that's important," Shunsui lifted his head to look at Ichigo. "Character is just as important as fighting ability. Old man Yama always made it a point to emphasize that part of the exam."

To Ichigo's knowledge, he had never met the former Head Captain, Genryusai Yamamoto. But based on all that he's heard about the man, it was hard to argue against anything people remember him saying.

_Character? _Ichigo thought. "Then that's not something I can fix," he said looking downcast.

"Not something you can fix?" Shunsui repeated. "You have all the right things in you Ichigo, you just don't remember it."

_Don't remember it? Why did he say that? Why do they all act like there's something they're not telling me? _Comments like that always frustrated Ichigo. No one would ever say anything more, they would just peak his curiosity and then drop it just to torture him.

Ichigo let out a sigh, "Fine, then I should probably go. I still have a lot of work to do." Ichigo started towards the door but was stopped when Shunsui said something else.

"Actually I'd like to give you an assignment."

Ichigo turned back, "What kind of assignment?"

"Well, you see, I really do want you to become a captain. We really do need to fill the empty spots in order for everyone to finally relax a little. I think I know just the thing that can get you there."

"And that would be?" Ichigo asked slowly.

Shunsui grew a soft smirk that was in no way taunting. "I want to assign you to Karakura Town for a few months. I think you can find what you're missing there. Or at least you'll find some help in finding what you're missing."

"You want to assign me to a town? But I'm a lieutenant, and my squad doesn't even have a captain. That would mean that my 3rd seat would have to do all of my work and their own."

"You're 3rd seat has done it before, for years in fact. Three months won't kill them. Have a little faith in your subordinates."

"It's not that I lack faith in them, I just don't want to leave them behind with all the work I should normally be doing," Ichigo corrected.

"I see. My mind is made up, you need to go to the world of the living in order to grow."

Ichigo turned his head away with a scowl in place. "Fine, I'll do it," he said in defeat.

He then left to return to his barracks. He still had no idea what he was going to tell his poor 3rd seat.

"Karakura Town, eh? Are you hoping that by sending him back to the place he grew up, he'll remember something?" Shinji asked getting up from his cushion.

"No that's not it, I'm hoping that someone there will remind him of who he was," Shunsui answered.

"Someone? Three months is a long time to be on assignment," Sajin reminded Shunsui.

"I'm aware, but I figured he would need time to find this person, as they both aren't who they once were."

"Hmph. You sound secretive all of a sudden Shunsui," Shinji turned up his nose.

"Secretive? Not at all," Shunsui smiled.

* * *

Renji was waiting for Ichigo outside of the Squad 1 barracks. When Ichigo appeared from around the corner, Renji left his leaning position against the wall to join him in walking.

"Ichigo!" Renji called out as he fell in sync with Ichigo's leisurely walking pace.

"Oh, hey Renji," Ichigo greeted.

"So, how did the Captain Exam go?" Renji asked.

"I didn't make the cut... again," he added an after thought. "Head Captain Kyoraku wants me to go to the world of the living for a while. He said it could help me grow."

"Sorry about that. So the world of the living, huh? Where will you be going?"

"A place called 'Karakura Town'. It's somewhere in Japan," Ichigo informed him.

"Karakura Town?!" Renji repeated a little louder than he would have liked.

"Yeah, do you know it?" Ichigo looked at him oddly.

"Hm? Well yeah, I've been there a few times." Renji's new understatement of the century.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the redhead. "What's with this Karakura Town that you're not telling me?"

Renji realized that he had messed up with his earlier reaction. "Huh? Nothing. But..." he gave a short pause. "If you see anyone familiar while you're there, tell them I said hi."

Ichigo had no time to respond or question Renji as Renji spoke again. "Anyway, sorry I can't stay and talk longer. Captain Kuchiki's waiting for me."

And just like that, Renji had flash stepped away, leaving Ichigo confused and irritated. "What?" Ichigo whispered to himself.

There it was again, he had peaked his curiosity and then left, not saying anything else on the subject. Why would Ichigo know anyone in a place he's never been to before? It just didn't make any sense. But alas, that would of course be the question on Ichigo's mind for who knows how long.

_Thanks Renji,_ Ichigo thought sarcastically in his head as he walked back to his barracks alone.

* * *

**Later That Evening**

Shunsui and Jushiro had rented out a private room for drinking. It was a good way to unwind and forget the worries of the day. It was also perfect so that they could talk without worry of anyone disturbing them.

"So Shunsui," Jushiro began after they had exchanged all their usual greetings and had gotten settled.

"Sounds like we're getting right to business," Shunsui remarked.

"I suppose. I heard you were planning on send Ichigo to Karakura Town."

"Ah, so the news has been traveling that quickly?" Shunsui asked.

"Well everyone was curious to know if Ichigo had passed the exam. Everyone has been expecting him to pass each year. So it only makes sense that the news would travel fast."

"Of course. So what do you want to know?"

"I was curious, are you sending him there in hope that his memories will return?" Jushiro asked.

"No, not exactly. The truth is that Captain Kurotsuchi has been keeping a close watch on Karakura Town ever since he realized Kisuke Urahara was hiding out there."

"Alright, so what's there that you want Ichigo to find?"

Shunsui pulled his straw hat to hide his eyes as he smiled. "Some very familiar reiatsu."

Jushiro gasped, "You don't mean...?"

"I do. It's the same as Rukia Kuchiki's," Shunsui finish for the white haired man.

"Do you really believe that it's her recycled soul?!" Jushiro asked sounding slightly desperate for confirmation.

"Yes, I do. Captain Kurotsuchi confirmed it some years ago."

"You've known about this for years?"

"That's right, but let me remind you right now. The girl we've found is not Rukia Kuchiki, she is a different person entirely, and she does not and will not have any of Rukia's memories. She can't become Rukia," he said to make sure his friend was on the same page as him.

"I understand," Jushiro said grimly. "If that's true, why would you send Ichigo to meet her?"

"Her reiatsu is still the same and because of that, the connection their spirits have will remain. If you remember, before Ichigo became a Soul Reaper with the help of Kisuke, it was Rukia who poured her spiritual energy into Ichigo. Since that moment, their spirits have been connected. There is no doubt that he will recognize her just by being near her," Shunsui explained his thoughts.

"I see, so by being around her, he will feel a sense of familiarity whether she looks and acts the same or not. That might bring back some of his memories regardless," Jushiro added.

"That's right. My hope is that by the time he returns, he'll be his old self again. We really do need someone like the way he was."

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A/N: Yep, I know it's a lot of set up. Please review and tell me what you think!


	2. Mysteries

A/N: Hey guys! Thank you for reviewing and adding my story to your alters and favorites, I appreciate it! I know it's been way too long and that is partly due to my Beta Searching Adventure. I actually found someone rather quickly and they responded within a few hours saying that they'd do it. I sent them my first chapter and... they still haven't given it back to me. Fail.

Three weeks later, I actually did find someone to be my beta reader, so WarriorofAnime (Jaay-Chan) is the official beta reader for this story now. So far they have been wonderful, encouraging and helpful so a big thank you to them!

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**Finding Who We Were**

**Chapter 2: Mysteries**

Morning in the Seireitei brought with it sunshine and an odd silence. By this time, everyone within the 13 Court Guard Squads knew that today Ichigo Kurosaki would begin his assignment in Karakura Town.

It was this very odd silence that made Ichigo even more curious about this place. Begin a Soul Reaper, Ichigo was required to know the political geography of the world of the living inside and out. This of course meant that he knew its location just like anyone else.

Its approximate population, according to their last census, was another thing he had learned at the Soul Reaper Academy. But he really could only be bothered to remember things like that long enough for the exams.

Every Soul Reaper had a basic knowledge about every location with a human population. However, this town seemed to be quite memorable to many of the high ranking shinigami. A fact that would not go unnoticed in Ichigo's mind.

Ichigo arrived at the Senkaimon early due to his third seat shooing him out the door after telling him multiple times that he knew what to do without him. He knew his third seat could handle everything even without his instruction, but Ichigo was hoping to kill some time by occupying himself with something other than the mysteries of Karakura Town.

But now he found that he was alone, with the exception of the guards, and nothing was there to keep his mind off of all the strangeness surrounding Karakura. Since he ended up being early, he would have to wait until the exact time he was scheduled to depart.

The guards were bred to be strictly punctual. Of course, the reason was more for keeping accurate records and to make sure no one went through the gate without permission. Still, Ichigo thought it was annoying that he was actually going to wait the full "11 minutes and 53 seconds" as one of the guards told him to.

With an indignant sigh, Ichigo sat down crisscross right in front of the Senkaimon doors and rested his head on his fist, supported by his elbow pillared on his knee. His fist pushed the flesh of his cheek upward forcing one eye to be closed more than the other while his other hand fell limply into his lap.

Being alone reminded him of another thing. Normally for someone as high ranking as a lieutenant, the captain of the squad would see their officer off to an assignment in the world of the living. But Ichigo had no Squad Captain, and if he were honest, he never did try to get close to anyone.

Being alone wasn't really something that bothered him all that much. In fact, he was surprised that not everyone from the Rukongai thought along the same lines. When your first memories are of a place like that, it's hard to trust anyone enough to get close to them.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you that if you keep making faces, your face will get stuck that way?" Ichigo heard a smug voice say from behind him.

"What did you say Renji?!" Ichigo turned to look over his should, placing his hands on his knees. "And how would you know what my face looks like when I have my back turned?!"

Renji however, was a different story.

"If lieutenant Matsumoto were here, she'd probably tell you that you'll get wrinkles if you keep frowning like that. Ikkaku might tell you not to look like someone died if you don't want your luck to turn. And Yumichika would go on some nonsense rant about beauty," Renji chose not to answer Ichigo's question directly.

"Okay, okay, I get it," Ichigo huffed and turned back to face the doors, crossing his arms. "I'll smile the day I have something to smile about. You don't have to nag me like some old woman."

Renji growled through gritted teeth in annoyance. "Hey! I'm just acting as a concerned friend is all! Besides, I only told you what I thought the others would tell you! You should be more grateful that I even took the time to do that!"

"Oh really? Then if you're such a great friend, what would you have told me?" Ichigo asked.

Renji dropped his provoked tension and said more seriously, "I would have told you that if I were in your position, I'd probably be scowling too." Renji paused, "But I wouldn't look so pathetic while doing it!"

Ichigo stood up and turned with his teeth gritted. "What are you doing here anyway Renji?!" he yelled.

Ichigo could hear Renji's smirk. "Do you have your Soul Pager?" he asked.

Ichigo's scowl fell as he began to pat himself down trying to find the only mandatory piece of equipment for his mission.

"Here," Ichigo looked up just in time to catch his flying cell-phone-looking device.

"Don't just toss it like that! If I hadn't caught it, it would have been broken!" Ichigo complained.

"Well you caught it, didn't you?" Renji retorted nonchalantly.

"Another thing, why'd you ask if you already knew I didn't have it?" Ichigo narrowed his eyes skeptically.

Renji grew a grin. "I'm not your mother, I have to have some form of compensation for my labor. And the look on your face is priceless!"

Ichigo's frown deepened. He sighed, "Yeah, sure whatever." He then pocketed his Soul Pager.

"Ichigo?"

"Hm?"

"While you're in Karakura Town, if you need anything, there's a place known as the Urahara Shop. If you go there, the shop keeper knows about all the high ranking officers within the 13 Court Guard Squads. He'll know who you are and he can help you with almost anything. He's a former shinigami himself," Renji made sure he was carefully with his wording.

"Why would I need to see this shop keeper?"

"If you need a Gigai or a Soul Pill, or even if you just need help with something."

"I'll keep that in mind," Ichigo said, mostly just to end the current conversation.

Ichigo noticed the corners of Renji's mouth move upward again, but this time it was a genuine smile and he wasn't looking at Ichigo.

Many bodies began flash stepping into appearance and Ichigo parted his lips slightly at the surprised. All the current captains and lieutenants lined up in their positions with odd numbered Squads to Ichigo's left and even numbered Squads to his right.

Once all were in attendance, Renji took his place next to his captain and the Captain-commander and his lieutenant stood beside Ichigo.

"What's going on?" Ichigo asked in just above a whisper.

"This is an important matter, so we all decided to come by before you leave," Captain-commander Kyoraku spoke up.

Ichigo looked down the two rows at all of the faces he'd come to know over his time in the Soul Society. A few faces were smiling gently at him. Despite the formality of his relationships with them, these people were the closest things to friends Ichigo had.

"You may not understand it now, but we believe that once you come back after your assignment is finished, you will," Captain Soi Fon stated with her arms crossed and eyes closed.

There was a paused of silence when Ichigo said nothing in response.

"Still think you have nothing to smile about Ichigo?" Renji called out. "I don't actually care whether you smile or not, but we all came here for only one reason. We respect you, Ichigo."

Renji's words shocked Ichigo even more. He had no idea what he could have done to gain the respect of everyone in such a way.

"You should at least say something," Renji instructed.

Ichigo took a moment before he closed his mouth and the space between his eyebrows wrinkled. "Thanks," he told them. "I'll try to understand."

Ichigo turned back and everyone waited patiently for the last minute until the guards opened the Senkaimon doors.

_If only you knew Ichigo..._ Renji began thinking to himself. _The reason I nag you like an old woman is because the person who would normally do that, is gone now. But even still..._

Renji watched as Ichigo's figure faded into the light emitted from beyond the doors. _...I'm not like her. I'm not the one... who can restore your heart._

* * *

Ichigo entered the world of the living and looked down at the place known as Karakura Town. It looked fairly normal as far as cities where humans live go.

Maybe it was just him, but Ichigo was expecting to recognize something, or maybe even just feel a sense of familiarity. However, looking down at the town from above only made Ichigo feel less sure of why this place seemed so important to the other Soul Reapers.

All that they've said still didn't add up in his head. Yet, being Ichigo, he felt determined to figure everything out.

Ichigo heard his Soul Pager beep, took it out and flipped it open to look at the alert. The hollow was on the other side of town and he would have to use flash step to get there.

He immediately took to action and hurried in the direction his Soul Pager led him. Before he could reach his destination, his Soul Pager beeped again.

Ichigo looked down at it and stopped. _What...? _he thought.

All trace of the hollow had disappeared. It didn't make sense for a hollow to appear and disappear so quickly on its own. Ichigo knew there had to be some other reason for that to happen.

He went to the location anyway and looked around. True to his equipment, there were no hollows in sight nor did he sense the presence of any.

He noticed that there were also no signs of a struggle and no blood stains from a soul being devoured. He might have thought there never was a hollow here to begin with if he hadn't spotted the soul of a middle aged woman crouched down behind the wall of a building.

Ichigo flashed stepped down to where she was. She flinched at the sight of him and was trembling, obviously afraid.

Ichigo put his hands up in front of him to show he meant no harm and crouched down to her level. "It's okay, you're safe now."

He slowly took out his longer zanpakuto. "I'm going to send you to the Soul Society. There you won't be attacked by monsters anymore."

He brought the end of the hilt of his sword down on the woman's forehead. She let out a gasp before she was engulfed in a blue light. Once the light disappeared, a black butterfly appeared and began fluttering away, the woman's soul having departed.

Ichigo stood and waited, staring at the spot the soul had been for several minutes. He had decided not to question the soul due to the fact that she seemed shaken up. But a hollow had definitely been in the area.

* * *

The next few days followed a similar pattern in which Ichigo would chase after a hollow, arrive after it had already disappeared, and then be left to send a soul to the other side, clearly cleaning up someone else's mess.

It was actually beginning to annoy him. There shouldn't be another shinigami assigned to the town, and even if it were a shinigami exercising the hollows, he expected that they would at least take care of the souls they save.

Other than Soul Reapers, Ichigo didn't know of any other being that could kill a hollow, let alone see one. His lack of knowledge of such things was mostly due to the fact that the History class at the Soul Reaper Academy was shortened just for his year. All of the recent history was skipped, unknown to Ichigo, of course.

Who or what was killing the hollows before Ichigo could arrive was a mystery he was determined to solve. As such, he decided that as soon as a hollow was close enough to get to with only one flash step, he would go after it as fast as he could.

The opportunity didn't arise until nearly the end of the week. Ichigo heard his Soul Pager beep and he reached into his uniform to retrieve it before flipping it open.

The hollow was close enough that he could hear it wailing loud and clear off to his left. He didn't end up looking at his Soul Pager, but instead he flash stepped on scene.

It took no time at all for Ichigo's eyes to settle on the masked beast in front of him. Ichigo took even less time to notice the soul of an elderly man on his back underneath the hollow, holding an arm over his head.

The old man was so afraid that was trembling and speechless. The most Ichigo heard from him were the "Uh... uh... huh..." sounds the man was making in between each shallow and shaky breath.

Ichigo let out a gasp. Before he did anything, the beast skewered he old man's body with its ugly crab-like claw and went on to devour the soul's body.

Ichigo had no time nor desire to morn the loss of a soul he never knew in the middle of a battle. Instead, he chose anger as the most appropriate approach, and so he gripped both of his swords tighter and gritted his teeth.

He pushed off with his forward foot and charged at the demon. With one quick, crisscrossing slice, Ichigo cut the hollow's bloodied claw off.

The hollow screeched in pain up toward the sky, but Ichigo gave it no time to repent. He jumped up and brought his longer sword down straight through the nose line of the hollows mask.

The hollow's screams stopped and the demon began to fade away from the cut outward, leaving a momentary black residue in the space where it had been. Ichigo didn't even grace the hollow with a fleeting look.

When all was seemingly silent and still, Ichigo looked over his shoulder at the blood on the ground. The humans wouldn't be able to see the blood of a soul, Ichigo would be the only one to see the red liquid. And the only one to know what it gave memory to.

Soon the rain would come and wash away all trace of the blood of the soul who was eaten. With it, it would take all memory and meaning away as well from the department store parking lot.

Living humans would continue to walk in and out of the store, passing by was remains of what was once one of them, without even knowing about it. As Ichigo thought, he became disappointed.

Even though he felt a sense of loneliness in the pit of his stomach, he still couldn't feel sad. Ichigo brushed his lack of empathy off.

He crossed his dual zanpakutos in front of him and then slung them both outwards causing the majority of the blood to splatter from the blades to the ground. The blood of the hollow seeped in with the blood of the soul, unrecognizable as stemming from something good and from something evil.

* * *

Ichigo laid down on one of the park benches with his hands clasping the back of his head. He watched in silence as the few remaining stars disappeared as golden-pink sunlight bathed the sky.

This particular park bench was the one he had deemed his substitute for a futon every night for as long as his mission lasted. So far no one had accidentally sat on him in his sleep, thankfully.

Ichigo didn't really feel the need to sleep last night. He spent the time thinking instead. It wasn't that Ichigo never gave much thought or time to anything, but he couldn't remember the last time he thought so hard about something like this.

Everything about this town was strange, and without anything to do in between hollow appearances, thinking made the time go by with more haste.

He decided that he would go and visit this "Urahara Shop" later on after all. He hated to admit it, but he was grateful to Renji for telling him that the store owner had Gigais.

Up until yesterday, Ichigo hadn't used up hardly any of his spiritual energy, but now that he had, he was getting hungry. Really, it made no sense that the Soul Society didn't have a way for shinigami to eat in the living world without needing a Gigai. Somehow, everyone seemed to manage.

Perhaps he would get his answers soon. If the shop keeper is a former shinigami like Renji said, maybe he'll know something about how this town is connected to the Gotei 13, and by extension, himself.

Ichigo sat up as he finally noticed people beginning to dot the area. He still wasn't ready to move yet, but this way he could steer clear of anyone looking to sit down.

He put his hands back behind his head and leaned his head over the back of the bench with a sigh. Maybe he could close his eyes and pretend the people weren't there.

Most of the time it was convenient that the humans couldn't see him, but other times it was just plain annoying. If no one knows he's there, sometimes people will do things they wouldn't normally do if they knew someone could see them.

The sound of some teenaged girl giggling as she pulled some guy along by the wrist deeper into the park was only a simple and not too embarrassing example. At least it probably wasn't for the girl.

As people kept walking by sporadically, Ichigo vaguely listened in on their conversations. For a while it all bored him as he had no interest in the daily lives of humans.

A woman in her early forties was walking down one of the paths with her fourteen year old daughter and eight year old son walking in front of her. She had long, burnt orange hair with no grey streaks and few wrinkles.

Both of her children had dark hair, much unlike their mother, but the daughter had the same face as her mother.

The teenager yawned before continuing to complain. "You've come through this park practically every day this week! Why did you have to force us to come along with you? It's Saturday morning!" the girl whined.

"We needed groceries, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get both of you out of the house," the mother reasoned.

"But why am I the only one carrying grocery bags?" the girl drawled exasperatedly. She was indeed carrying three grocery bags while the other two carried none.

"With all of that stuff in your hands I can make sure you get a nice little break from always texting your friends," came the reply along with a cheery smile.

This, of course, went unappreciated by the girl. "Even if I weren't carrying _your_ bags for you, I still wouldn't be texting my friends. All of them are asleep at six on a Saturday morning!" she waited until the end of her sentence to raise her voice.

The fourteen year old took a breath and then continued, "Besides, look at him," she gesture towards her younger brother. "He doesn't set his gameboy down for anything but school!" Clearly that was unfair.

"If you really want him to carry something, go catch up to him and ask him to."

The boy had made it a point to put a good ten feet of distance between himself and his sister. He walked with his head down and his eyes lazily glued to the screen of his gameboy. This was obviously an attempt to get out of doing any work in the girl's mind.

"Fine," she told her mother before jogging to close the gap between herself and her sibling.

The woman could hear her daughter say, "Mom said you have to carry one of the grocery bags for me."

She then watched one of the bags transfer hands. Instead of putting his gameboy away, her son proceeded to play his game one handedly, and he apparently wasn't doing a bad job at that.

She watched from behind as her teenager talked on about various things to her brother who didn't appear to be listening.

As the woman approached a part of the path with a bench to the side, she stopped.

Ichigo, who's eyes were still closed, could hear the two kids keep going past his bench.

"Ichigo... Kurosaki?" the woman said slowly with a hitch in her voice.

This got Ichigo's full attention and in shock, he lifted his head up to look at her. She was staring directly at him. Still, Ichigo felt the need to quickly glance over his shoulder.

When he saw no one behind him, he turned back to look at her again. By this time she was fighting back tears and sniffling.

Ichigo wasn't sure how to deal with this situation so all he could manage was a confused look and an "Uh...".

Suddenly she leaped forward and began to sob loudly with her face in Ichigo's lap. "Ichigo Kurosaki!" she cried.

Ichigo immediately threw his arms up so that they were level with his shoulders. "Hey, what are you doing?! Get off of me, old lady!"

After having said that, he realized that he could have been less harsh with his word choice.

She looked up at him and sobbed even louder, "What do you mean Ichigo?"

This definitely wasn't an ordinary human. "How can you see me?! And who in the world are you?!"

The woman once again buried her head in his lap. "You don't remember me!" she said in between cries.

"Of course I don't remember you if I've never met you before! How do you even know my name?!" Ichigo said while putting as much effort as he could into leaning the upper half of his body away from her without pushing her off and to the ground.

"I—" the woman was able to get out before she was interrupted by her daughter who came running back.

"Mom!" the daughter yelled in an angry, whispering tone. "What are you doing, _praying_? You can confess your sins at home, let's just get out of here," she said as she scanned the surrounding area for people who may know her.

The woman lifted her head up and began to wipe her tears with her forearm. "I... I—"

"Come on mom, move your a—" the girl started in an irritated tone but was cut off when her mother immediately rose to her feet and placed her fists on her hips.

With a very "mother's-superiority" look, the woman scolded her daughter. "That kind of language is not appropriate for a young lady. Especially when you're talking to an adult, Tatsuki," she said sternly.

As Ichigo watched the woman go from crying two year old into Mom-Mode, he took the opportunity to stand up on the bench and then slip behind it. This way, there was a bench between him and the seemingly bipolar woman, in case of a repeat.

"Whatever," Tatsuki responded dismissively to her mother and crossed her arms.

The woman looked further down the path. "Wait, where did your brother go?" she asked.

"He's leaning against the tree over there," Tatsuki pointed. He was still engrossed in whatever game he was playing.

"Go and tell him to come back here," the woman told her.

"Why? Home is that way."

"Because you know you're supposed to keep track of him so that he doesn't wander off. We should stick together."

"Fine then," Tatsuki said while turning to run after her brother. "Ichigo! Mom says you have to come back here!" she called while jogging to meet Ichigo half way.

The Ichigo behind the bench was now more than a little creeped out. Whoever this woman was, she knew who he was, and in what seemed to be a stalker kind of way.

She seemed to realize how odd these circumstances must have came across too. Right after Tatsuki had called her younger brother by name, the woman slowly started to turn her head toward Ichigo with a guilty and embarrassed expression in place.

She straightened herself up as she turned to fully face Ichigo. She brought one of her hands up behind her head and laughed nervously at the blank, dumbfounded look she was being given.

"Uh, you see—" she didn't have time to say anything more. She stopped herself when she realized that he's spiritual pressure had gone and she concluded that he had flash stepped away.

She let her hand fall to her side and her face became blank as she stood there staring. There was a moment in which she didn't move, and her mind went blank as well.

"Mom!" Tatsuki tried calling her mother back to the present as she and Ichigo walked back over to where she was standing. "Are you ready to go home yet? What are you looking at?"

Tatsuki tried to find what her mother could possibly be staring at but she saw nothing.

"Oh, it's nothing," her mother responded somewhat absently. "We can go now," she started walking even though her eyes were still on the spot where her old friend once was.

"Uh, okay then," Tatsuki gave her mother a strange look.

"I know neither of you," the eight year old Ichigo mumbled as they walked along.

"Hey, I heard that!" Tatsuki snapped.

Her kids began a back and forth, one much calmer than the other, but the woman drowned it out with her thoughts.

She knew it had to have been his spiritual pressure that she had been feeling. Now she had finally confirmed her theory.

After all these years, Ichigo Kurosaki was back in Karakura Town. After Kisuke Urahara had told her as well as the rest of Ichigo's friends that Ichigo had lost his memory, she had doubts that she would ever see him again.

Back then, she had waited a few years to get news on Ichigo, only to learn that even if he saw her again, it was unlikely that he would recognize her. Hearing that crushed her heart beyond what it did when Ichigo died.

It took her years to get over that. After so long without seeing him, she final let her heart be healed and was able to move on. But now, seeing him again stirred up all of the emotions she had when she was young.

Should couldn't help but feel upset with herself. She was married and had kids now. Thinking about her high school crush was selfish, she had to think about her family and her husband.

Ichigo had to be here for a reason, she knew that. In her heart she knew that she would have to stay away from him and trust that he could get by on his own.

For her heart to remain completely faithful to her dearly loved husband and to her beautiful children, this was the only way she could find. She would put her family before any selfish desires. That is the way it had to be.

"Tatsuki, Ichigo," she interrupted her kids' bickering.

"Hm?" they both turned their heads to look at her.

"I love you both very much!" she smiled.

She heard both of them sigh loudly. "We know mom," they said in a pseudo-irritated way as they avoided eye contact.

The woman giggled bubbly and threw her arms around both of them.

* * *

Ichigo had escaped from that woman but he couldn't escape from the reality of how things were turning out. Not only was there something strange about the town but also the people in it.

He found a human that could see him. If one human could see him, it was reasonable to say that other people might be able to see him too. That could create a problem.

This was yet another mystery surrounding Karakura Town. Though while there still weren't any hollows to go after, he could start testing one of those questions.

He decided to walk through town on the sidewalks like any other person to see if anyone would notice him. He kept walking towards the center of town where there were more and more people walking to work.

No one gave Ichigo a single glance as he walked by. He even tried stopping abruptly a few times.

He was actually growing tried of this as he realized that the odds of more than one human being able to see him living in the same town were probably very slim. Before a couple of hours ago, he had no idea that any humans that could see Soul Reapers existed.

He sighed out loud and then his Soul Pager beeped. He could feel the vague presence of the monster off in the distance and started jogging in that general direction.

He fished his Soul Pager out of his uniform and flipped it open to look at the exact location. He then looked back up and stopped himself dead in his tracks.

He had just about ran through an intersection with moving cars. He let out a short breath of relief and was about to flash step away when something caught his eye.

He couldn't understand why, but he suddenly forgot about what he was supposed to be doing and stood in place.

On the other side of the crosswalk was a girl with long, black hair and pale skin. Not unusual for a typical japanese woman. She was petite and looked like she was college aged.

The girl had a tan, rectangular bag across her shoulder and was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. She was reading the textbook she was holding in one hand, and taking notes in the notebook laying on top of the page opposite from the one she was reading.

Everything was now silent to Ichigo. All he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat. It was even paced but loud in his ears.

He couldn't see the girl's eyes with the angle of her head her her reading glasses preventing him from seeing their color. He didn't know why, but he wanted desperately to see the color of her eyes, as if to confirm something.

The sign changed and people began walking past both Ichigo and the girl on the other side. Ichigo didn't seem to notice, he was too intent on waiting for her to look up.

It took the girl a second to noticed that people were beginning to cross the street. She lifted her head up and her eyes wandered to Ichigo's.

They were a deep, blue-violet color. Ichigo felt sure that the girl wasn't just looking through him either, but directly at him. Her face remained expressionless and she stood still instead of crossing to the other side.

Ichigo was captivated. Then, his Soul Pager beeped again, reminding him of the world around him.

He looked down at it. The hollow had already been taken care of. He closed the cell-phone-like device and looked back up.

It was then that he realized the girl had disappeared. He turned in every direction, looking for her, but she was nowhere to be found.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so to defend myself ahead of time, I had two reasons for bringing Orihime into this chapter. The first reason is that I can't see a way in which she wouldn't feel Ichigo's spiritual pressure, and we all know that she would want to see him. The second is that this gives an explanation as to why I won't be having 42-year-old Orihime showing up in the middle of all of Ichigo's battles.

Song of the Chapter (just because I feel like it): Leave Out All the Rest by Linkin Park

Now go look up an IchiRuki amv with that song after you review. (I'm sure one probably exists out there.)


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